A picture book promoting guns to kids by US lobby group aims to 'bring gun ownership out of the closet'

Journalist

Tooled up: Bea takes sensible precautions before entering the crime section of the book shop.

A new “wholesome” picture book by two Michigan-based authors aims to show children the benefits of having parents who openly carry handguns.

The authors of My Parents Open Carry say their goal is to provide “a wholesome children’s book that reflects the views of the majority of the American people, ie that self-defence is a basic natural right and that firearms provide the most efficient means for that defence”.

The book depicts a day in the life of the not-so-subtly named Strong family – Dick, Bea and daughter Brenna.

Be prepared: There could be a threat lurking among the cucumbers.

As the blue-eyed trio leave the house for a fun Saturday out, Dick and Bea “retrieve their handguns from the locked gun safe and check them to make sure they are loaded. They place the handguns in their holster ... in plain sight on their hips.”

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Going about their weekend chores, the pistol-packing pair bump into various townsfolk who admire their decision to “open carry”, including neighbour Mr Wright.

“I see you are both packin’ as usual, good for you,” he says, cheerily. “You just never know when you might need to protect yourself and loved ones ... It’s best to be prepared I always say.”

Guns are fun: The Strong family love to show off their weapons.

Brian Jeffs, president of a pressure group called Michigan Open Carry, co-authored the book with Nathan Nephew, a founder of MOC.

On the MOC website, Jeffs sets out the benefits of displaying a large-calibre pistol while shopping and socialising.

“It’s true that open carry has many advantages: a faster draw, a larger calibre handgun and greater round capacity; sure it’s been shown to deter crime, and it is immensely more comfortable to carry in warm weather, but it is much more than that,” he writes. “Open carry brings gun ownership out of the closet. It shows your friends and neighbours, your state and your country that you are not afraid of taking on the responsibility of protecting yourself and the ones you love from evil.”

The MOC website also carries a list of positive comments apparently from sources including James Towle, host of American Trigger Sports Network ("Outstanding, outstanding…every person should buy five copies of this book...”) and Alan Korwin of gunlaws.com (“I love it...boy does this fill a vacuum!")

However, on Amazon, where the book is listed as a best-seller in the Government Books category, reviews appears mixed at best.

Tongue firmly in cheek, “Greeny” gives the book five stars.

“My kids need to know why daddy has a .38 strapped to his hip on the school run, in the supermarket, and at McDonald’s, so this book is a god-send,” he says. “They need to know the peace of mind that comes from knowing you can gun down any bears, terrorists or argumentative store clerks/waitresses you might encounter when going about your day-to- day business.”

Reviewer Malc McGookin also remains unconvinced.

“Your determination to interpret your 2nd Amendment as the right for every halfwit and their child to own and operate a firearm virtually without restriction is being paid for by the blood of innocents,” he writes. “You carry your guns because you are scared and gutless.”

And “Kevin F” has a grammatical point to make: “By the way ‘Open Carry’ isn't a verb. And I'll stand my ground and shoot in the face anyone who pretends it is.”

About 85 Americans are shot dead daily, 53 of them suicides. According to data from the FBI, in Michigan in 2012 there were 682 homicides, 78.59 per cent of which involved firearms.

33 comments so far

Well, it's pretty blatant in its intent.

But most of the 'kids' shows and movies seem to be promoting the 'guns are cool and can solve your problems' concept to, if marginally less directly.

Commenter

Redsaunas

Location

Date and time

August 05, 2014, 1:19PM

Families who frequent book stores don't really fit the demographic who would carry guns. So I think it is a little miss leading in the graphics.

Also I notice the book relies primarily on two syllable words which should help gun owning parents to have chance at reading it to their children. They might have trouble reading or understanding the word "vegetables" however, it should have been set in the confectionary isle (that's the sweets isle for you gun carriers)

Commenter

JM

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

August 05, 2014, 3:03PM

"can solve your problems"Can any one tell me what sort of problems can be solved with a gun. Baring of course those started by a gun. They become a mine is bugger than yours and even lets try it out. Sick people the gun people.

Commenter

BlackAbbott

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Date and time

August 05, 2014, 3:32PM

Wow, just... wow.

Commenter

Macca

Location

Not America

Date and time

August 05, 2014, 1:21PM

"Blue-eyed trio": what's your point here Nick?

Commenter

Abbey

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Date and time

August 05, 2014, 1:23PM

Wow, it doesn't take much to get you Green voting, inner lefty types in a huff, do you? Evidently you have no problem with children books that have been printed that promote the homosexual lifestyle as normal to impressionable young kids.

Abbey, Galvin's point is, as a smug self loathing Caucasian, is to infer that somehow gun ownership is automatically aligned with Aryanism or Neo-Nazism.

I once saw an ABC Foreign Correspondence 'journalist' describe Holland as "alarmingly blond" when doing a story on Geert Wilders Freedom Party. Of course, if anyone described Asia as "alarmingly black headed", well, we know what they would be called, don't we?

If Anita Cobby open carried, do you think she would have undergone that hideous ordeal? No, it's a greater concern for leftists like Galvin to feel smug than for people to defend themselves with force.

Commenter

Jon

Location

Reality

Date and time

August 05, 2014, 1:37PM

t think you should redirect to the author/illustrator, shouldn't you?

Commenter

rosebud

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Date and time

August 05, 2014, 1:46PM

Abby, are you thick? And why are they white and fair when most of the 10,000 killed by people with guns in the US are black?

Commenter

Antechinus

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Date and time

August 05, 2014, 1:56PM

Possibly that there are three of them and they all have blue eyes? Are you suggesting there is an implied bias towards groups of three?

Commenter

Public Joe

Location

Date and time

August 05, 2014, 2:05PM

#Antechinus, what you say and your attitude is very racist and more than a little inaccurate I think. Check your facts virtually all the mass shootings are young white males.